40 YEARS OF THE LEMPEL-ZIV ALGORITHM

In 1977, Profs. Jacob Ziv and Prof. Abraham Lempel introduced the math that would enable lossless compression regardless of the structure of data and without prior knowledge of statistical properties. Many compression technologies used in memory devices, computers, and smartphones are based on this algorithm. In 2017, the achievement was honored with the EMET Prize.

2018 UMBRELLA CONFERENCE

The 32nd Umbrella Symposium on Energy Conversion and Storage was held at the Technion with the participation of researchers from Jülich Research Center and from RWTH Aachen University in Germany.The conference took place under the auspices of the Grand Technion Energy Program (GTEP).

NANO SWIMMERS

An interdisciplinary study has introduced the optimal configuration for nanoscale robots that travel within the human body for biomedical tasks. The team was led by Prof. Alex Leshansky of the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering.

TWEETING HAPPINESS

Research performed as part of the doctoral work of Ben Galon, under the supervision of Dr. Yaron Kanza of AT&T Research Laboratories, and Prof. Yerach Doytsher of the Technion Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering has introduced a method that analyzes social media posts to map emotions in urban spaces.

HEAL THE YIELD

An innovative technology developed at the Laboratory for Targeted Drug Delivery and Personalized Medicine Technologies at the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering by Prof. Avi Schroeder and colleagues is expected to significantly increase agricultural yields. This will be achieved using a nanometric transport platform, which was until now applied in medicine.

YONINA ELDAR ELECTED TO THE ACADEMY

Prof. Yonina Eldar, second from left, of Technion’s Viterbi Faculty of Electrical Engineering was elected to the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities in December – making her one of only five women scientists in this prestigious institution and the youngest member.

THE BRAIN’S LEARNING ORCHESTRA

Prof. Yonina Eldar, second from left, of Technion’s Viterbi Faculty of Electrical Engineering was elected to the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities in December – making her one of only five women scientists in this prestigious institution and the youngest member.

20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ISOLATION OF HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS

20 years ago, in 1998, Prof. Itskovitz-Eldor, in collaboration with Prof. James Thomson from the University of Wisconsin, isolated the first human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). This is considered one of the most important scientific breakthroughs in medical history. In the same year, Prof. Itskovitz-Eldor established the first stem cell research laboratory at the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at Technion. Prof. Itskovitz-Eldor currently holds the largest number of scientific publications in the field of hESCs.

DOES GOLD REMEMBER?

Researchers from Technion, led by Prof. Eugen Rabkin, with Germany colleagues have demonstrated the phenomena of shape memory and self-healing in gold microparticles. The discovery could lead to robots capable of self-repair; and mechanically stable and damage-tolerant components and devices.

SUPPRESSING THE RESISTANCE

Advancing the field of customized medicine through nanotechnology, Prof. Shulamit Levenberg and team have developed a system that enables the rapid and accurate customization of an antibiotic to the patient.

COUNTDOWN TO SAMSON LAUNCH

Technion announced that in late 2018, a group of three nanosatellites, which will fly in controlled formation, will be launched for the first time into space. The Adelis-Samson Project, headed by Prof. Pini Gurfil, is supported by the Adelis Foundation and the Israel Space Agency.

CATS COUNTER HIV

Feline AIDS of FIV gives clues in how to counter human AIDS. Prof. Akram Alian and Dr. Meytal Galilee from the Faculty of Biology are using FIV to uncover the mechanism of viral resistance to anti-reverse transcriptase drugs. Their findings, published in PLOS Pathogens, show that the FIV protein forms a closed pocket that blocks the drugs from effective binding.

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES FOR SCHOOLCHILDREN

More than 1,000 students from Israel, the US, Argentina, Mexico, Russia, and Ukraine took part in the ninth Technion Robotraffic contest, named for Nadav Shoham. Hosted by the Technion’s Leumi Robotics Center, the contest challenges high school students to build autonomous vehicles that are required to perform tasks on a simulated road.

SHOOT FOR MARS

Six “astronauts” have entered a structure designed by Technion students in order to simulate life on Mars. The building was erected near the town of Mitzpeh Ramon in the Negev desert as a first step in the establishment of a space simulation center.